Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
All of them saying one thing.
An inspector had shut them down for the day because of something wrong on my end.
I cursed, texted him that I’d be there as soon as I could, then called Eedie.
“Hey,” she answered. “Get the job?”
“I got it, I think,” I replied, but I had to take a second because my phone was blowing up. “Could you do me a favor and run to my place and pick up the work van? While I was in the meeting, the city inspector went to the site of those apartments and said that something was wrong with our work. Then they shut them down for the day. I’m headed there as soon as I finish up here, though it might be a while, and I need my van in case I need to do some work.”
“On my way,” she said. “It’d be easier if you left your vehicles at the office, though.”
I snorted. “Doesn’t matter if I leave them there or at home. I always have to go to the other place to pick shit up for jobs.”
After we hung up, Wesson appeared, and we talked more shop.
He told me expectations, prices for bids he’d gotten, and what his general timeline was looking like.
We spoke more and more about our lives, and by the time it was done, hours had passed.
After agreeing to meet again the following week with my bid sheet, I rushed to my bike.
I headed to the apartment complex we’d recently finished and walked right up to the foreman.
He jerked his chin at the city inspector.
He was a tall man with shiny black shoes that were no match for a job site. They were filthy and getting dirtier by the second.
What was he thinking wearing those damn shoes out here?
“Got it. Thanks.” I walked toward him.
His eyes lifted from his clipboard to me, and he gave me a condescending smile. “You are Audric Ingram with Ingram Plumbing?”
“That’s me,” I confirmed. “What’s going on?”
“I want to let you know that you have a few issues with your finish work,” he replied.
Then went on to tell me everything that was wrong with the plumbing.
Only, the dumbass didn’t think that I was up to date on the laws as I was, because before he could finish citing the violation, I was rebutting with the law that had changed, rendering his ‘citation’ moot.
By the time he was finished, I’d damn near taken the wind out of his sails.
My phone vibrated in my pocket but I ignored it.
“I’m, uh, not sure that’s…” The inspector looked flustered.
“It’s telling that you’re ignorant on your new laws for this,” I said. “One would think that an inspector would know the violations he’s citing someone for have changed. Seems common knowledge anyway. But I can prove to you in each of these instances that I was correct in how I did them. I’m exact in my work. I don’t mess up.”
Mostly.
But he didn’t need to know that.
“I, uh, I…” The inspector cleared his throat. “I guess I’ll clear these fines then and allow the next phase to commence.”
“Good,” I snapped.
My phone rang again as the inspector was leaving to speak with the foreman.
I pulled it out of my pocket to see ten missed calls from Eedie, and just as many from Webber and Copper.
I called Webber back first since he was the president.
“Webber…” I said as soon as he answered.
“Get to the hospital now,” he snapped. “Eedie called me ten minutes ago saying that two police officers took Creole into custody. They said that they were holding her on a forty-eight-hour psych hold. They were pretty rough with her, too.”
I saw red.
That doctor was about to go down.
I arrived at the hospital within ten minutes, breaking every speed limit as I went.
Hell, I’d passed more than a few cops on my way, too. But I was going too fast for them to catch up to me, let alone read my license plate.
By the time I got to the hospital, I was in no better shape than when I’d left the job site.
I stormed through the doors, then kept storming all the way to the receptionist who looked slightly terrified.
But before I could get any words out, Webber’s voice sounded from behind me.
“Here, Audric,” Webber called.
I whirled.
“She’s in the psych ward,” he said. “And she’s not able to have visitors.”
I laughed. “Fuck them.”
I stormed my way back to the receptionist and said, “What floor is the psych ward on?”
Her eyes were wide as she said, “Fifty. But you won’t be able to get up there. It requires a badge.”
I turned and started walking, heading right toward the elevator.
As I moved, I swiped the card off a nurse who was bending down to retrieve her can from the Coke machine.
She never felt me take it, and I was going right up to the elevator and punching in the fiftieth floor before the doors had opened all the way.